And I’m Spent

I had a hard time falling asleep last night. I had a lot on my mind and today’s 18 miler was only a fleeting thought, until I watched my projector clock on the ceiling hit 1:36 A.M. How the heck was I going to run 18 miles after only 5 hours of sleep (my Little Buddy gets up early)? And the rain was pounding my window. It was not relenting. Oh well. I thought about my gear and what I would wear.

Morning came and the rain was still coming down. This was not your normal Seattle rain, this was Midwest type of rain. Pounding down and making puddles everywhere. Jessica called me at 9 AM with the bad news, she had gotten called in to work. Oh well, I would head out in time to run the last half of my 18 with her on the bike. I slowly started to get dressed and all my gear ready. Then around 11:30 I got a text from Jessica, she had to stay longer than planned. Crud. I was on my own.

I looked outside and the rain has slowed, it was a sprinkle. So I hit the road with my water belt. That lasted .48 of a mile and I turned around and took it home. I can’t stand that thing. It was so bad I opted for the Nathan hand held bottle (that should tell you something click HERE for the back story on that). So I set out again. The rain had picked up but it wasn’t bad.

My first 5 miles were wet but bearable and I held around a 9:30/mile pace. Around mile 6 the heavens opened up and the ocean fell on my head. I couldn’t even see where I was going. I gave up puddle jumping, there was no point. I was soaked to the bone. People huddled under overhangs and in bus stop shelters. One guy looked at me like I had lost my mind. I don’t blame him. Water was pouring off the brim of my hat and made a waterfall affect in front of my face. It made me think of Erica’s comment yesterday, “...stick your tongue out while running..it will be an easy way to stay hydrated :)” It made me smile for a second and I gave it a try. Salty. Ick. Sweat from my hat must have been mixing with the rain…or it truly was the ocean falling on my head. So that didn’t work out so well.

I kept running. I kept telling myself that I just had to get far enough away from home so that when I turned around I had no choice but to make 18 miles. I found myself heading down toward the waterfront when the bits of ice started to fly through the air, aiming at my eyeballs. I lowered my head and kept going. This was truly ridiculous. I then decided that I would make my way home for a quick wardrobe change and finish up on the treadmill. So I kept running along the waterfront. The usually crowded sidewalk was barren.

I was freezing and wet. I headed up a huge hill at a snails pace and new I was about 3 or 4 miles from home. So all I could do was keep on trucking. Finally at around 10 miles the sun came out, the rain was still falling but the sun was shining. Then the rain stopped and the wind was ferocious. So I began to get really really cold. I just wanted to get home.

I made it home with 12 miles done. I couldn’t even get the key in my door because my fingers were frozen (I don’t think it was that cold but the wind was what got me). I finally made it in and stripped out of my clothes, right there in the kitchen. I wanted those clothes OFF. Lazy Dog looked at me like I had lost my mind, and maybe I did. I wrapped up in a towel so I could get dry enough to put on the second set of clothes for the treadmill.

I had high hopes for 6 miles on the treadmill. It didn’t happen. I got to the Y and had ZERO motivation and was running short on time, I had to get my Little Buddy to karate. I ran, slowly. My hip was aching and my side hurt. My stomach still felt cold and I was not feeling it. I hit three miles on the treadmill at 3:30 and QUIT. that’s right folks, I QUIT. I straight up hit the big fat red STOP button and Quit. Could I have done the last 3 miles? Yes. I don’t know why I didn’t, other than not wanting to stumble in to Karate looking like a crazed homeless woman with hair that could be fostering a few birds and rats. I had to get my Little Buddy and get home to shower.

Stats:

15 miles in 2:32/10:07 pace

So while 15 miles is a good distance it is not 18 miles and I am feeling mentally challenged. I MUST get my 20 in next week. Any volunteers to run, bike, rollerblade, dance, drive, scoot, fly, or drag me along?

27 days until OKC Marathon.

Today I am grateful for:

Surviving this stupid run today.

Mercer Island Half Race Report

My birthday started off bright and early: 6:30 AM. The plan was to leave the house at 7, drive two blocks and buy gas (because I hate buying gas and only do it when absolutely necessary, and well, my gas light was on), then head to the race. I wasn't too worried about getting there early because worst case scenario I would just jump out of the car and head to the start (like I did for Seattle half) and my friend Jessica would do the hard part, park. But aside from almost rear-ending the a car in front of me when the exit came up (not going to add the at 70 MPH detail) we had no problem finding a place to park (illegally in the Starbucks parking lot).

We parked next to AN the RB and quickly got ready. I gooped up my feet and toes with Body Glide, put my timing chip on my shoe, decided against sunglasses since it was so cloudy, and thank goodness I grabbed my arm sleeves!

My Little Buddy was helping me get ready.

All ready!

When I got my other shoe on we headed to the start. It seemed like the weather was going to hold out. If felt thick, if that makes sense but didn't feel like rain. We walked about a quarter of a mile, maybe more, to the start area where it suddenly felt cold. I had on my over sized cotton sweatshirt on over my short-sleeved shirt and my sleeves. I contemplated wearing my sweatshirt on the run but decided against it. We had about 20 min to Go! time so I decided I would try the Honey Bucket. The lines were stupid. I don't understand why 50 people get in a line in front of 37 individual Honey Buckets. I think there should have been a line per 1 Honey bucket so I started a line. I went and stood in front of one single potty and waited. So essentially I cut in front of 57 people waiting. I just think psychologically there is something to be said about waiting in line behind three people vs. 57 people. Does that make any sense at all? Anyway, AN the RB and Jessica were standing off to the side laughing at me and when I was done they were talking about line validity and how no one got in line behind me. I cut the Honey Bucket line. Oh well, it was my birthday and I was about to PR!

We wondered around for a few more minutes, talked about warming up, hopped up and down. I texted Mel a few times, she was inside the building, in a line for the bathroom. I wanted to tell her to come outside and cut like did but figured a warm bathroom with running water was better. I was wanting to wait for her to come out because I was rethinking my approach to this race (switching from run for fun to run for PR). Oh well, we heard an announcement telling us it was 10 min to start time. I texted Mel again and told her I was heading to the start with about 8 minutes to Go! time.

I did not want to take off my sweatshirt, it was cold and windy. But I knew running in that thing would be bad news. Here is me and AN the RB getting ready to go to the start line.

I was pretty surprised when I got to the start. It was like 2,000 people in a cattle shoot and I needed to get to the back of that shoot. It wasn't going to happen. It was just too crowded. The start may be the only flaw of this course. Since I could not get to the middle of the pack this is what I saw when I settled on a spot...

6:01 to 7:00 pace. Oh well. I wasn't THAT far off, right?

The time came and the guy blew the horn. Runners slowly made their way forward until we actually had room to jog. I bid adieu to AN the RB, sad to be on my own but excited to be on my way! I concentrated on not running too fast out of the gate. I quickly came up with a plan; hug the yellow center line. I ran the entire race within 4 inches of the center line. I was not going to weave if I could help it. Mile 1 and 2 flew by. I don't know where I saw the first and second water stations but I opted to run through them. I wasn't thirsty yet, I was just running. Before I knew it I was at mile 4 and remember when we were driving the course mile 4 had a long flat stretch, but I had hardly noticed the hills behind me. Huh? That is strange. I felt really good so I decided to be careful, I was waiting to get tired.

Around mile 4 is when I was looking at the shirt in front of me, well the shirt on the guy in front of me. It was the race day shirt. I hadn't even looked at it, until it was bouncing in front of me. This is when I realized this particular race was to raise money for Colon Cancer. My Grandpa died of colon cancer. Suddenly, halfway through mile 4 this race became personal. Not only was it my birthday, I was running a half marathon and supporting research for Colon Cancer. I thought about my Grandpa and had a special time remembering him. I dedicated this race to him and that is when I decided that I really needed to get my sub 2.

My hip started aching around mile 5. I kept telling myself, "I feel it but it doesn't hurt." I slowed a bit coming into mile 6 and 7, still waiting to knock out. I kept on running and enjoyed the views. It was about mile 10 when my hip down right hurt. I slowed down to try to give my hip rest. I guess it worked because mile 11 was back under 9. Mile 12 I crept back up to a 9:03. Oh well, I was certain at this point I was going to be under 2 hours.

I have learned that it is best to set my G. Money a bit over the race distance to allow for weaving, satellite discrepancies, and whatever else happens out there in La La GPS land. I had mine set for 13.19 miles. When I looked at my watch and it was 13.1 and I was still heading toward the finish I groaned to myself, of course...this race would be long. I had quite a bit of kick left and kicked it to the finish, passing one girl that I remember.

As the nice lady cut my timing chip off I tried to hold back the tears. I can't even tell you all the emotions that were going through my head. I did it! Finally made my goal of a sub 2 hour half! Now I can move on to the marathon!!! I had so many friends there and I wanted to tell them all. Right then! And how many half marathons have I done where all I wanted was for my husband to be at the finish? I fumbled my cell out of it's nest and called Jessica with my Little Buddy and I texted Mel. I honestly have no idea which happened first...it is a blur. All I know is the gun time had me at 1:57.48 and I knew my chip time would be even better!! 1:56.09!!

I could not believe that I did it. I mean I could believe it but it was surreal. So now I move forward. On to marathon goals and training.

Here we are after the run! And we are all smiling!! It was a fun race and I must say that I think I would do it again! It is hard to compare it to other races because I am a completely different runner than I was for any other half I have run.

After the run we headed to lunch at Red Robin where we all got to reminisce the course. I will post more about the lunch tomorrow...this post is way too long as it is and it is past my bedtime!

Birthday PR!!

Wow! I really don't know what to say about today. It was amazing, wonderful, fun, emotional, tough, challenging....I am pretty tired so I will give a small race report tonight and fill you in on the complete report tomorrow.

First things first..... Can you all say sub 2? I thought so!!! I want to thank each and every one of you for all your encouragement and faith in me! I seriously thought of each of you as I ran. with each mile it became more and more real that I could actually get a sub 2 hour half! I think I did math in my head at least a quarter of the time I was running, "If I keep this mile at 8:30 then I can actually run 9 min miles for the last 3 miles and still do sub 2." "8 min times 7 miles is 56 (minutes) plus about 4 more minutes (give or take a few) is one hour so if I run the last 6 miles in...9x6=54....whoa 9 minutes and I would get my sub 2 in this run!" Math. Yuck, I have always hated math. But that is what I did and it helped pass the time, and each mile that was under 9 I knew I was buying time for the mile 11 hill and the last mile. So, without further delay I will give you my stats:

13.24 miles (hmm....what happened to 13.1?): 1:56.12

Mile 1 8:23
Mile 2 8:29
Mile 3 8:23
Mile 4 8:26
Mile 5 8:16
Mile 6 8:41
Mile 7 8:44
Mile 8 8:58
Mile 9 8:54
Mile 10 9:29
Mile 11 8:53
Mile 12 9:26
Mile 13 9:03
Mile .19 1:42 (I had G. Money set for 13.19 miles, just in case...so it shut off
and I had to start it back up, so that is the random minutes and
seconds here, so much for 13.1 mile course.)
Mile .04 0:17

Average pace: 8:46
total distance: 13.24 miles
total time 1:56.12

Personal best by about 5 minutes!

So here I am pre-race! It was a great day for the sleeves! I knew I would warm up but boy was it cold at the start! And that growth on my leg? He wanted to come along....I kicked him off somewhere around mile 3. =)

So here I am after my run. I am alive and smiling. Can't ask for much more than that! As soon as I was able I texted Mel and told her, "I did it! 1:57.48 gun time!" I wandered up to the water and found Mel standing at the entrance to the tent. I fell into her hug and cried on her shoulder. I had done it! Alone on the course I made my goal, but not without support from all of you, not without Mel encouraging me, not without Jessica hanging with my Little Buddy. So I was not alone...this was a joint effort. I could not have done it without all the people who I have surrounded myself with and who are kind enough to allow me to surround myself with them (Red, Mel, An the RB, Jessica, Kerrie, Zoe, Amber, Jill, Michaela...and so many more, all of you my faithful followers who believe in me {I feel like I am accepting a Grammy Award}).

Full race report tomorrow....

Today I am grateful for:

A wonderful run!

Sharing my birthday with awesome friends!

A sub 2! Finally!!!

No rain during the entire race! It finally poured on us as we walked to the car!

Hot showers.

Another birthday and a year of personal growth behind me. Where will this next year take me?

Did Someone Say No Mercy Hills Half Marathon?

This afternoon Jill and I headed up to grab our race packets with our little dudes in tow. We put them in the third row seating of her amazing van! Can you say awesome? I NEED third row seating!

The drive seemed quick and we didn't really have any problems getting onto the Island. This may have given me false confidence in tomorrow's trip up, I don't know. My plan was to leave my house around 7:45, get to the race at 8:30-ish, jump out of the car and run in 30 min. I don't like to mess around or hang around too long before a race. I don't like to be cold, or wet. I don't usually check any clothes so if I run in a short sleeved shirt and it is 40 degrees I want to spend as little time as possible freeeezing my birthday bootie off! Being there too long before GO time makes me nervous. Before the Seattle Half I literally got out of the car around 6:40 with the race starting at 7. I jogged to the back of the start for a warm up and then BOOM...Go time. That to me is how a race is done. No time to worry, less adrenaline build up. There is not time for that! But tomorrow is strange, there are two main roads leading on to the island and about 4,500 runners, I think. So it could be crazy. As of now my plan is to be dropped off around the start and my friend will park the car, eliminating the stress of parking.

Now for the fun part, the route. Jill and I drove the route. I have never done this before. Here are a few videos of the route taken from the car, please excuse the silly little dude's in the back. They were having a great time!

Mile 3





Mile 3.5

Mile 4

Mile 6

Mile 7-we are getting quieter as we go....the hills are getting bigger and bigger and bigger!

Mile 11

So that is all I got. That is a sneak peak of the race route. The view from the car does NOT do it justice....but we are all ready and it will be awesome!

I am charging my iPod, Garmin and camera. I have new headphones, yummy GU, and a new birthday race shirt!! My race day bag is packed to include my bib and safety pins and timing chip.

Bring it on, No Mercy Hilly Mercer Island Half Marathon!

I would just like to add that Sunday race days are kind of special to me. While I miss church to run I also feel like I spend 2 hours and some change in a close dialog with God. It is my time to talk to Him and tomorrow I know he will be beside me, helping me along those hills!

I think I'm Ready

This weekend is Mercer Island Half Marathon. I think I am ready. I hope I am ready since I have a full marathon in 37 days. 37 DAYS!!! I am kind of slowly slipping into Marathon Freak Out Mode. I desperately need a long(er) run. This weekend should be 18 miles but I am doing 13.1. Next weekend no ifs, ands, or buts...I MUST run at least 18 miles. I have 5 weeks! My plan is all kinds of messed up. My next three long runs should be: 18, 14,20. But I am going to be flipping them to be 13.1, 18, 20. What are the repercussions of two very long runs in a row, 18 then 20? I have noticed that I should be jumping up in mileage then stepping back.

I am coming to terms with the fact that my first marathon goal will be: 1)survive and 2) finish. Maybe not in that order. I don't know.

As for my birthday Half Marathon on Sunday a sub 2 would be awesome but I also just want to go out and enjoy the run (despite the rain that is called for). The hills are brutal and I have not been hill training. So I guess I am scared that I wont be able to. We will see. I am excited and feel a good run coming on!

Call off your hounds!!

I am alive and Well!!!!

Last week was restful so I don't have a lot of running to tell you about. Last Friday was the one week mark for my rest so I knew I needed to get a good run in. I got to run with another local blogging mommy! Always a treat! I talked with Jill on the phone Thursday to make a plan for running Friday. I wasn't sure if it would happen since my Little Buddy was down with strep throat. Ugh, poor kiddo! At least we were both down and out at the same time so I didn't miss more training than I had too. But I made the plan to meet Jill and run 10 miles Friday morning.

Of course it was raining and an all around Pacific Northwest morning. But I had told Jill I would run with her, she was counting on me. So we texted a few times and pushed our time to 10 AM so we could get our little people to preschool. I won Worst Mom of the Year Award when I dropped my Little Buddy off at preschool. As soon as I walked him in I was told he needed a sack lunch and 6 bucks for a field trip. Thanks for the heads up people! He missed school half day of Wed and all day Thursday so I didn't get the memo... Great. With 10 minutes until my Meet Jill time I was in between a rock and a hard place. Thankfully his teacher said she had an extra lunch for him and I could just pay the $6 later. I felt kinda bad saying, "I have a running date in 10 min, I can't go make his lunch and hit the ATM." Ugh, mommy guilt. So I have the award sitting on my....er...heart. I am sure it will pass soon enough. On a brighter note he went bowling and scored a 62! Awesome! THAT is my Little Buddy!

Anywho, back to running! I met Jill and we had the perfect 10 mile route!

G. Money gave me all sorts of fits from the get-go. Can you see the problem with this below?

During my last run, before the week of rest, the pin came out of the little thingy, you know what I mean, and I fixed it. See how good I did? I didn't have the time or tools to fix it before Jill and I set out so I carried it in my hand, which worked out, except for the part where I must have hit a button and turned it off. OOps. I reset it and we kept going. So our stats are taken from Jill's Garmin.

Stats:

Miles: 10.01
Pace: 10:00
Time: 1:40:12

Mile 1: 9:08
Mile 2: 9:31
Mile 3: 9:48
Mile 4: 9:55
Mile 5: 10:06
Mile 6: 10:17
Mile 7: 10:29
Mile 8: 10:15
Mile 9: 10:12
Mile 10: 10:26


This was a perfect run and perfect pace for my first run post rest! We had a great time and the conversation flowed. Not only that but the rain held off and we didn't get a single drop the whole 10 miles! I see a few more runs in our future! My hip hurt a little bit beginning at around mile 5. To my surprise it felt fine a few hours later and I am feeling pretty good today. I only ran 2 miles on the treadmill, fail. I was bored and having a blah kind of day. Oh well.

This weekend is the Mercer Island Half Marathon. I am supposed to do 18 miles for my long run.

Hmmm....18-13.1=4.9.

This course is a doozie and depending on how I feel I may turn around at the finish and run 2.45 back and then come back to the finish for my 18. But I am not making any promises for a few reasons: 1) it's my life and my choice, so there 2) it's my birthday that day, so there 3) well, it's my birthday and I have people (not just people but bloggy people!) who want to have a post run lunch with me, so there and 4) I may be just too tired, so there.

And now I will leave you with this gem.....

Not only do we run but Red and I are training for a triathlon. I think she needs to graduate to a two wheel bike though. And I plan to loose the training wheels!

Today I am grateful for:
My friends who stand beside me thick and thin, who laugh with me and cry with me. Words cannot describe how grateful I am for you. Thanks!

More Cowbell Winner

Congrats to the More Cowbell winner!!!

Drum roll Please!

Jill at Running To Sanity!

Jill said: I have so many people that I want to ring that cow bell...mostly though it would be my son Max. I want him to be proud and inspired by his MOM!

I think we all can relate to this! There is something magical about that moment we see our little wild ones running through the house pretending to be running a race or wearing our medals around their necks. We are setting our children up to live happy, healthy and active lives! I wish I had a cow bell for all of you! Jill, I am sure it will be so awesome to hear Max ringing that bell for you!

I am still resting my hip. I haven't run (or would it be haven't ran? Surely there is some sort of English teacher out there dying to correct me...Red?) since Friday. I did go to the YMCA yesterday and got 36 minutes on the elliptical and about 45 min of weights followed by my hip exercises. Today I taught water aerobics so I haven't been completely sedentary. I hope to start back in tomorrow but my Little Buddy is sick so it may not happen. At the very least I will hit the treadmill Saturday. A little over a week until the Mercer Island Half! I would like to get a long run in this weekend but I am thinking it will be Monday. My schedule is so whacked! I can't think about it or I will start to get anxious and nervous and panicky and freak out! I have barely over a month to my marathon and my longest run has been One Million Inches or 15.68 miles, a far cry from 26.2!!! Oh jeez! here comes the panic!

Today I am grateful for:

Tulips!

A birthday present sent from lands afar from The Hubs! Details when I actually get it in the mail!

Kids who see their parents active and healthy!

Anti inflammatories.

Rest rest rest...and maybe rest

Doctor's orders.

Ah, but if you will look closely I wrote "rest" three times and then a "maybe rest". Monday I headed to the doctor for a check up, or follow up, to make sure I am still healthy, wealthy and wise after my problems in Dec/Jan. The good news: I am healthy. The bad news? I am not wealthy and the wise is debatable. =) But once the doc assured me I was certainly healthy and cleared and there was no need for any more follow ups (hooray!) I said, "While I am here, I have one other concern. *stall* I am training for my first marathon and my hip really hurts." I explained the pain and the history of the pain. I experienced a similar pain two years ago. She had me do some standing and balancing and kicks and had my lie down and she moved my leg here and there, pushed here, felt there...without hesitation she said she was putting me in for x-rays. Needless to say I was shocked. This does not usually happen. I was certain I would hear, "take a few weeks off, start up slow and come back if it still hurts." But I did not hear that!!! This doc took me to her office and I sat there while she went and made copies of a book chapter about the hips. She returned and handed it to me with the instructions to "read it." She told me she has run four marathons! How did i get so lucky? She talked to me about the importance of shoes, having more than one pair and rotating them (something I am not currently doing), about surfaces we run on and that treadmills are better than cement but still not good (uh, I thought they were nice and squishy?). She asked me if I was increasing my mileage too fast and asked if I could consider a later marathon. Not really an option, I am registered. I'll do OKC but maybe I will register for another one that will give me more time to train. In all it worked out great and I am glad I brought it up. She understood me and she understood running. When she said the dreaded word REST my heart stopped for a second then she said "for three or four days..." Thank God! I know she saw the smile flash across my face.

So I got the x-rays and she said she would call me if she saw anything of concern. Cross your fingers that I don't hear back.

After leaving the doctor's office with my high power anti inflammatory I considered meeting Mel for my 16 miler...I could always do my long run and begin my resting tomorrow! Right? I had also made plans to do my long run with Red on Tuesday so I could even begin my resting on Wed! But the truth of the matter is that my hip hurt and I knew in the pit of my stomach I needed this rest. I need to recover so I can continue to train and get stronger, faster, and more stamina and endurance. And my Little Buddy sealed the resting deal by getting sick last night so he stayed home with me today and we rested together. So I will rest tomorrow and maybe, just maybe run on Thursday.

Now here is the problem, where do I pick back up? I don't have the time to push this weeks training to next week. So do I pick up where I left off or or with my 16 miler? Or do I check those missed days off and jump ahead as if I did run this week? What do I do?

Oh yeah, and don't forget my More Cowbell giveaway! It ends tomorrow night at 10 PM PST! go HERE and enter!!!

Today I am grateful for:
All my new awesome followers! You all are amazing and I love to see all of us out there getting healthy and living life! Don't give up!!! Keep running and working hard!
My new yummy smelling perfume, I love smelling good! Who doesn't?
My awesome support system here, my family away from family, you all know who you are and I thank you. You may never know just how special and important you are to me.
No news which is good news about the X-rays! Let's hope there is nothing of concern there!